Think we can't live without plastic? Think again. In 2007 I committed to stop buying any new plastic & I've almost succeeded! Won't you join me? Let's see what plastic-free looks like today… for the health of our bodies, our oceans, our planet. ~Beth Terry

I went to the woods…

…because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. Henry David Thoreau, Walden.

I spread a sheet on the ground and set up my chair in a eucalyptus grove overlooking Lake Chabot. I sat in that chair from 12:30pm yesterday to 11:00am today, not quite 24 hours. It was cold and foggy most of the day, and very cold last night. Thank goodness for my mummy bag with hood, which kept me warm enough.

I drank water and listened to the rumblings of my empty tummy. Thoughts were thought and visions beheld, although not of the fantastical burning bush sort. The sound of eucalyptus bark peeling from trees was like a chorus of creeky doors opening and closing, inviting me over and over again to wake up. And the leaves fluttered all night like little birds over my head. After dark, a skunk and I were mutually alarmed by the presence of the other, but after a few seconds of nervous staring, we parted ways (the skunk turned and ran off) neither the worse for the encounter.

That’s all I’m prepared to say right now. The deeper experience feels too raw and precious to share publicly… at least for a while. Here are a few more pictures. Yes, I brought my camera, but it spent most of its time in my backpack.

The view from my chair:

Early Tuesday morning:

Lake Chabot from the bench where I sat and ate my lunch Tuesday after fasting for a full day. The best PB&J ever!

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It’s been said that each of us should have a private place in a natural setting where we can go and simply sit, just like you did. The longer you sit the more you notice and what is there to see all along presents itself. Along with everything around you, you just are. Let it be. Since (with the exception of mosquitoes!) most creatures do not attack unless threatened you can see fellow creatures that go about their ways. Since plants take time to do things, you have to give them the time to do them. To be free of… Read more »

Beth,I’ve thought of doing something like this. It’s one of the reasons I go backpacking even though I’ve always been out of shape when I go. Nothing like being in the wilderness with your thoughts. I would say I hope you found what you were looking for…but that’s not really what it’s about, is it! Thanks for sharing.